introducing bottles?

Greetings folks:

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of the
women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had read that
babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time, to get them used
to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and expressed milk later on,
they might not take to it at all. She feeds her baby expressed breastmilk a
couple of times a week.

Fact or fiction? I'll be going back to work in February, will probably be
done breastfeeding by then, but it would be good to have the option to use
bottles. Is my baby doomed to never take a bottle if I don't offer one now?

Thanks!

KD & G

"KD" wrote in message
...
Greetings folks:

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of the
women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had read that
babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time, to get them
used to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and expressed milk later
on, they might not take to it at all. She feeds her baby expressed
breastmilk a couple of times a week.

Fact or fiction? I'll be going back to work in February, will probably be
done breastfeeding by then, but it would be good to have the option to use
bottles. Is my baby doomed to never take a bottle if I don't offer one
now?

Thanks!

KD & G

I would say that this is a matter of personal preference, as well as what
works for you and your lifestyle.
I exclusively bf DS. He might have had 1, maybe 2 bottles of EBM total
ever, but he did have a few bottles on maybe 2 occasions of Pedialite
(recommended by the ped when DS fell sick with the flu and was getting
dehydrated and just did NOT want to nurse at all) - he was maybe 4-5 months
old at the time.
Other than that, no bottles of water, juice, EBM, formula... He went
straight from nursing to a sippy cup, and had EBM in a sippy cup until he
was about a year or so old. Maybe 14 months, when he went to milk. I had
started to slowly introduce a sippy cup at about 6ish months old for a drink
with meals - like his cereal or whatever - and nursed morning and night, as
well as nap time.
Come Feb, if you'll be back at work, he won't be nursing so much. He could
very well be using a cup at this point, and his main source of food
shouldn't be breast milk, as he should be well on his way with solids.

Some things I can think of off the top of my head to ask yourself is...

Will you need to or want to leave him with someone else for an extended
period of time before he can or will drink EBM from a cup OR regular milk? -
I mean, maybe a night out to go for dinner and a movie, where he could be
left with someone else longer than he would go between feeds? I didn't
leave DS with anyone at all until he was about 4 months old. I just
couldn't, being a first time mom and all, I just wasn't able to. If you
want some of that freedom to just take off for an evening, then obviously
you'll need to leave milk for him, and leaving a body part is just not
possible.

Do you want others to be able to feed him if you are busy or unavailable?
Maybe you'd like to just go to bed early and have Dad put him to bed and
feed him and do it all to give you a little break. You'd need a bottle for
that, or have to cut into "you" time to feed the baby.

Bottles can come in handy for long trips as well - any plans to go on a long
road trip? Maybe a trip longer than a few hours camping or visiting
relatives? That *could* come in handy for just sitting in the back seat
with the baby for a little to feed a bottle, rather than having to stop and
pull over to nurse, and finding a place to sit down and nurse might be a
challenge. (I tried pulling over to feed in the parking lot of a gas
station/small convenience store - with no restaurant or even benches - and
doing that in the passenger's seat of the car was a pain!

I really don't know... Just think of possible cases where you might not be
available, or even might not want to be available, and think about how your
life is. The pros of offering a bottle might make it worthwhile to you to
try him out on a bottle every now and then, they might not. He also might
take to a bottle, he might not. Every baby is different. DS would not
touch a bottle, really, and DD would not take to nursing. I'd go through
what works best for you and your baby. By February, your son will be
nearing a year old, right? I had DS on a cup by the time he was 8 months
old, and that was because I went back to school and put him in daycare. I
was not keen on washing bottles and sending them to daycare with him. A cup
was just easier for me, as I can easily toss cups in the dishwasher...
Bottles, for me, don't wash so nicely in the dishwasher and nipples washed
by hand as well last way longer and come out cleaner.

Ask yourself the questions kat suggested. What are the reasons for you to
introduce a bottle?

Now for my experience Matt was born after an induced labour due to
pre-eclampsia. Took 5 days of hand expressing and pumping pretty much
nothing for my milk to come in. He ended up getting a bottle feed from day 3
for about 2 weeks until we were sure my milk was plentiful (ie. I'd
breastfeed first, then offer 60 mL of formula - when he refused the bottle
several meals in a row, I stopped offering). From then until he was 9 months
old he had a bottle of milk only a few times. Once was when we went to the
Sydney Motor Show and there was just nowhere for me to breastfeed. We ate
lunch balanced on a step next to a rotating car display. Another time I
needed to go somewhere and Dad had to feed him EBM. When he was 9 months old
my milk supply started reducing due to the fact that I was pregnant again.
Some women lose their milk in pregnancy, some don't. I was one of the
unlucky ones. Matt would not take the bottle from me and it ended up being
introduced by someone else for 3 days in a row, then he started taking it
from me. I could have introduced a sippy cup but decided to go with a
bottle, anyway.

There was never any nipple confusion for Matt when he was offered that
random bottle. However, if you decide to offer the bottle regularly, one of
the dangers is that your baby will prefer to feed from a bottle, where less
effort is required. If you are planning on many long car trips (I've
breastfed on planes, in airport lounges, shopping centres, just about
anywhere other than the Motor Show) or to take time off from the baby and
leave hubby with him, then if your baby is young enough they'll take the
random bottle anyway. Usually in small babies there is no nipple confusion.
From what my firends who bottle fed say it doesn't save you much time,
anyway, as their bottle feeders took just as long to finish the bottle as my
breastfeeder to finish eating. It's just that you can feed a bottle in a
moving car or when the breast owner is not there. Or if they're a bit older,
then get one of the other people in the car to feed him. Matt would take the
bottle from others but not me.

There are ways to get a baby to take an occasional bottle without "training"
them to do it. Hold the bottle in an underhand grip and with your middle
finger push their jaw shut, ie. your hand in under the bottle, with only the
index finger (and maybe middle finger, depends on what's comfortable) and
thumb holding it up. Use either the middle or ring finger to prop the mouth
closed so the baby doesn't keep spitting out the teat. Baby will generally
keep feeding from the bottle when their mouth is propped closed even if they
used to spit out the teat in the past. This is the method we used with Matt
and it worked a treat.


"KD" wrote in message
...
Greetings folks:

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of the
women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had read that
babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time, to get them
used to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and expressed milk later
on, they might not take to it at all. She feeds her baby expressed
breastmilk a couple of times a week.

Fact or fiction? I'll be going back to work in February, will probably be
done breastfeeding by then, but it would be good to have the option to use
bottles. Is my baby doomed to never take a bottle if I don't offer one
now?

Thanks!

KD & G

"KD" wrote in message
...
Greetings folks:

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of the
women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had read that
babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time, to get them
used to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and expressed milk later
on, they might not take to it at all. She feeds her baby expressed
breastmilk a couple of times a week.

Fact or fiction?

Fact but the key word is *may*. The longer you delay offering a bottle the
higher the risk that they will refuse it. You may also have to give a
bottle fairly regularly or they *may* upand decide to refuse one at any
time. There are other options besides bottles for the mom that doesn't have
a real pressing need to use them, as others have already mentioned.

My first son refused bottles because I didn't offer them to him frequently
enough. This was terribly stressful because I went back to work full time
at 12 weeks. I was sure not to let that happen again with my second and now
with these two.

The best window to start them in is between 4-6 weeks and I always recommend
offering one a day at least 5 days a week if it is really important that
they take a bottle.


--
Nikki, mama to
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Brock 4/06
Ben 4/06

KD wrote:
Greetings folks:

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of
the women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had
read that babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time,
to get them used to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and
expressed milk later on, they might not take to it at all. She feeds
her baby expressed breastmilk a couple of times a week.

I went back to work when YoungBloke was 10 months old. Up to that point he'd
never had a bottle. We tried it a couple of times when he was a few weeks
old but he wasn't at all impressed so we didn't persevere. In fact, by 10
months he'd not really had much success with a cup either. He was happy with
me and I was keeping up with his requirements. On the day he started at
nursery I gave them a bottle of expressed milk and explained that he'd never
had a bottle and wasn't good with a cup. They put the milk into a cup and,
surrounded by other toddlers doing likewise, he drank!

I don't feel I missed out by not teaching YoungBloke to use a bottle,
especially as it's a 'skill' that isn't really required for any length of
time. From 6 months on a cup is easier to use.

So I think what I'm saying is don't get hung up on "should". If you want to
try a bottle now and again go for it, but don't do it because you "should".

Nikki wrote:
"KD" wrote in message
...
Greetings folks:

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of the
women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had read that
babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time, to get them
used to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and expressed milk later
on, they might not take to it at all. She feeds her baby expressed
breastmilk a couple of times a week.

Fact or fiction?

Fact but the key word is *may*. The longer you delay offering a bottle the
higher the risk that they will refuse it. You may also have to give a
bottle fairly regularly or they *may* upand decide to refuse one at any
time. There are other options besides bottles for the mom that doesn't have
a real pressing need to use them, as others have already mentioned.

My first son refused bottles because I didn't offer them to him frequently
enough. This was terribly stressful because I went back to work full time
at 12 weeks. I was sure not to let that happen again with my second and now
with these two.

The best window to start them in is between 4-6 weeks and I always recommend
offering one a day at least 5 days a week if it is really important that
they take a bottle.

Everything Nikki said. DS had a bottle of ebm and formula early on (2-3
weeks old IIRC) and has had one bottle of ebm at least once a week from
8 weeks. He switched from breast to nipple sheild to bottle with no
trouble at all. I do know a few mums who had trouble getting their
babies to take a bottle around 6 months when they went back to work.
Some succeded, some are still trying. But I'm sure there are plenty
that have little or no trouble at all. It seems to me it's a gamble,
and if you definitely plan for your lo to have a bottle in the future I
would start the ebm now.

Jeni

Linz wrote:
From 6 months on a cup is easier to use.

I'm not sure I'd agree with this. There was no way ds could have used a
cup at 6 months, he has only managed it from 9 mnths properly. At 6
months he was just sitting up. Perhaps for some it is easier to use,
but I wouldn't agree to it as a general statement.

So I think what I'm saying is don't get hung up on "should". If you want to
try a bottle now and again go for it, but don't do it because you "should".

I deffo agree with this.

Jeni

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of the
women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had read that
babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time, to get them
used to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and expressed milk later
on, they might not take to it at all. She feeds her baby expressed
breastmilk a couple of times a week.

Fact or fiction? I'll be going back to work in February, will probably be
done breastfeeding by then, but it would be good to have the option to use
bottles. Is my baby doomed to never take a bottle if I don't offer one
now?

how are you planning to feed when you go back to work, or are done
breastfeeding? You may not need to use a bottle at all, I had a friend who
stopped breastfeeding at 9mths and fed formula in a cup until the baby was a
year, at times it was a struggle, like when she was tired and didn't want to
bother, but it does at least show that a bottle is not necessary.
Breastfeeding also can becomes much less demanding at some point around 9
months, I've only been feeding 2 times a day for the last couple of months
(DD is almost 1).

Given that February is a long time away, I wouldn't be worried about giving
bottles now dependent on what you are doing in February. The choice you have
to make is do you want to give occasional bottles of ebm before then, if so
your friend is right, there is a window for introducing the bottle.

With my 2nd, I only wanted her to have a bottle because I wanted to go for a
day conference when she was about 4 months old, but as breastfeeding was
going so well, we kept not getting round to trying it and we only managed to
teach her eventually 2 days before I went!

Cheers

Anne

"KD" wrote in message
...
Greetings folks:

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of the
women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had read that
babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time, to get them
used to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and expressed milk later
on, they might not take to it at all. She feeds her baby expressed
breastmilk a couple of times a week.

Fact or fiction? I'll be going back to work in February, will probably be
done breastfeeding by then, but it would be good to have the option to use
bottles. Is my baby doomed to never take a bottle if I don't offer one
now?

Thanks!

KD & G


i have not read all the other posts, but for my baby that i did not give any
bottles to, i could not get him to take them. It is said that 6-8 weeks is
about the time to try it. dS1 had bottles of EBM from about 2 weeks, and
would take bottles easily. DS2 i never got around to expressing.

When the time came to wean, it was awful, he did not want bottles, (and who
can blame him). Worked eventually, but took a while and some tears all
round.

if yo udo want to give your baby a bottle here and there, i woudl give it a
go now.

chris

KD wrote:
Greetings folks:

I'm mom to an eight week old boy who is exclusively breastfed. One of the
women in my parent/tot group told me this morning that she had read that
babies should be introduced to bottlefeeding by this time, to get them used
to it. Otherwise if you want to use bottles and expressed milk later on,
they might not take to it at all. She feeds her baby expressed breastmilk a
couple of times a week.

Fact or fiction? I'll be going back to work in February, will probably be
done breastfeeding by then, but it would be good to have the option to use
bottles. Is my baby doomed to never take a bottle if I don't offer one now?

Thanks!

KD & G

It can probably be both fact and fiction, depending on your baby. lol.
Personally, I would probably "play it safe" with a trial here and there
with one if there were going to be times I know baby might need to take
a bottle while I was gone. My baby has had no problems going between
pacifiers, bottles, breasts, since birth though. If I wasn't planning
on the need for baby to need one, I would not offer one until I could
foresee that chance presenting itself.